Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to control systems, and more particularly to control systems for steerable thrusting devices.
Description of Related Art
Thrusting devices are utilized in a range of applications often requiring external control of both magnitude and direction of the thruster. For example, one form of thruster is an electric trolling motor, which is typically utilized on small to medium sized boats, approximately 24′ in length or less, for fishing applications such as trolling, navigating and anchoring. All electric trolling motors utilize an electric motor with an attached propeller for propelling the boat. Electric trolling motors can either be mounted in the stern or bow of the boat. For best control of the boat and to point the bow of the boat into the wind or waves, it is preferred to have the trolling motor at the bow of the boat. When mounted at the bow, they are typically referred to as a bow mount trolling motor. A typical bow mount trolling motor system is comprised of a mounting base for securing the trolling motor to the boat, an electric motor coupled to a propeller to create a thrusting force against the water, a shaft assembly which transmits torsional forces from the steering input mechanism (either mechanical or electrical) to the coupled electric motor and propeller located on a bottom portion of the shaft, effectively directing the thrusting force against the water. The typical trolling motor is connected to a power source which consists of a single battery in a 12V DC system or two or three batteries connected in series in a 24V or 36V DC system, respectively. Some bow mount trolling motors are manually or mechanically steered with a tiller handle or a type of mechanical foot pedal and pulley system. Other bow mount trolling motors are electronically steered with one or more electric actuators driving a steering mechanism attached to the shaft assembly. Characteristic of electronically steered motors, an electric actuator is typically housed inside the mounting base and rotates the shaft for steering. This method of steering control significantly increases the functionality of an electric trolling motor for navigation and boat control by eliminating the need for physical control via tiller handle or mechanical foot pedal. Electronic steering control enables the implementation of more advanced control systems for electric trolling motors than manually or mechanically steered motors offer because of the ability to control the electric actuator with programmable devices. Electronically steered motors have the ability to be entirely electronically controlled. They can be controlled by hand held remotes, wired and wireless foot pedals and recently by a chartplotter/fishfinder device. The electronic control system controls output power by varying the speed (RPM's) of the thruster motor and also controls the heading of the boat by commanding the steering motor. Currently there are several variations of electronic control systems for electric trolling motors, including manual input, compass-guided, and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) controlled.
Manual input control systems allow the trolling motor's speed and heading to be varied to control the speed and heading of the boat. These systems are available with either an electrically wired or wireless foot pedal as well as handheld remote controls. This manual system requires constant attention of the operator to keep the boat's track on the desired course. Users that are concurrently commanding the trolling motor and attempting to fish find their attention divided between fishing and adjusting the speed and direction of the boat. With so many tasks to attend to at once, the user is often unable perform well at either driving the boat or fishing or both, leading to a degraded fishing and boating experience.
Compass-guided autopilot control systems are the next level of advancement in control beyond manual input control systems and utilize an electronic compass mounted on the motor head to allow the motor to maintain heading of the boat with or without manual adjustment and input from the operator. While these systems effectively maintain a magnetic compass heading, prevailing forces such as wind, waves and currents can push the boat off course over time. This leads to deviation from the original target point or location over time while the heading is still being maintained—this deviation is often referred to as “drift” from the intended course. Compass-based autopilot control systems are susceptible to numerous sources of error, such as compass level error, magnetic interference, and compounded deviation from an originally targeted point as a result of drift and any other sources of error. Compass-guided autopilot systems are available with handheld remotes, foot pedals, and sometimes controls on the motor head.
GNSS (Global Navigational Satellite Systems) control is currently the most effective and capable autopilot technology that has been integrated with electric trolling motors and utilizes a GNSS antenna and receiver along with an electronic compass mounted on the motor head to provide positional boat control. With the advancement to a GNSS controlled system, much greater versatility and control of the boat is gained. Functions such as anchoring in a specific GNSS location, following a route consisting of multiple GNSS points, and following a GNSS heading vector allow the boat to be navigated and controlled without being pushed off course by wind, waves, or current. Speed (over ground) can also be precisely controlled along the desired route of the boat with the GNSS control system. With both speed and heading precisely controlled, this gives the fisherman or operator the ability to troll or navigate along specific routes at precise speeds, which are both considered important aspects in maintaining boat control and increasing the ability to catch fish. By not having to manually control the heading and speed at all times, this makes the operator or fisherman “hands or feet free” of the boat control. The user can then perform other tasks such as attending to fishing equipment or catching fish as the boat moves along. An ‘anchor’ feature that was not possible with non-GNSS trolling motors is now achievable and a very useful feature on GNSS systems. By allowing the boat to be “anchored” at a specific set of GNSS coordinates by the electric trolling motor, the need for anchor and rope/chain is eliminated, which is time consuming to deploy and retrieve, can spook fish as it is being dropped, and allows significant drift and swing of the boat in deep water and windy conditions. The GNSS anchor also allows “anchoring” in fragile marine environments such as coral reefs without causing harm or damage to the reef environment unlike a traditional anchor, as it drags and claws along the bottom. All of the GNSS features including following a route, following a vector, speed control and anchoring free up one person in the boat to perform fishing related or other tasks as where typically they would have been responsible for controlling the boat position.
GNSS controlled bow mount trolling motors are the latest technological advancement in the field. These can be differentiated from prior technology based on semi-autonomous capabilities and advanced functionality made possible by position detection and automatic control based on gathered position information. Methods and systems for accomplishing boat speed, direction and position control via GNSS and other position detection devices have been disclosed in numerous US patent publications. U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,368 A describes a method of holding a boat in a fixed position using an electric trolling motor and a position detection unit. U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,636 discloses a system and method for “anchoring” a boat without the use of rope, chain, anchor, or other weight with the use of an electric trolling motor and GPS. U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,213 takes the GNSS capabilities a step further by enabling the electric trolling motor to follow a plurality of points selected off a map, follow a plurality of manually input points, and store and retrace a “recorded” series of points forming a route. Additional functions have been described such as the ability to propel a boat along a vector route, and maintaining a constant course over ground. U.S. Pat. No. 6,678,589 combines many of the aforementioned functions along with a GPS receiver at a second location on the vessel in order to provide more accurate boat positioning.
There are a variety of products on the market that make use of GNSS control as described previously including Minn Kota i-Pilot, Rhodan HD GPS Anchor, and Motorguide Pinpoint GPS. These commercially-available systems all feature an electronic controller mounted on the electric trolling motor head which includes a GNSS receiver and antenna along with an electronic compass for GNSS navigation. They all include a handheld, wireless remote for sending signals to the electronic controller. They include an “anchor feature” and a “cruise control” feature, in which a specific speed can be set, and will follow a pre-recorded route or vector heading.
These GNSS controlled systems have several shortcomings. Each of the systems above have a limited storage capability, with 6-8 routes and 4-8 waypoints or ‘spots’ being the standard benchmark amongst like products. As noted, routes and waypoints have to be pre-recorded using these devices by manually navigating the route or having been physically at the ‘spot’ to capture the position data required to repeat the location. Perhaps the biggest shortcoming of these units is that none have any mapping screen or device included in their remotes—although a user can be brought back to a specific location or over a previous route, the user does not have visual feedback of where the route or waypoint is located. There is also no way for the user to obtain the position or heading of the boat without this type of visual feedback. With no mapping device or other method to input locations, pre-planning of a route or desired waypoint is not possible. These units also do not have any accessible storage capability such as a memory card to access or store additional data beyond the limitations of the remote's integral memory. If the 6-8 routes and 4-8 waypoint storage capacity is being fully utilized, a route or waypoint would have to be deleted before another is able to be added. These systems also lack the ability to transfer routes or waypoints, and are thus without the ability to transfer them from the remote to another device. This is a highly desired ability by many boaters and fishermen in order to be able to use the data for other uses besides controlling the device on which the saved information resides, such as pre-trip and planning and post-trip analysis.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,761,976 was assigned to Minn Kota. This system links by hardwire ethernet connection a GNSS-equipped chartplotter/fishfinder device to a trolling motor for advanced control of the trolling motor using the mapping capabilities available on the chartplotter. This system simultaneously uses a wireless remote to provide feature control similar to the i-Pilot. Most marine chartplotters/fishfinders have the ability to store waypoints and are typically equipped with a memory card for storage and removal of navigation data. By adding the chartplotter to the trolling motor control system, the system is capable of increased storage and memory capabilities for routes and waypoints as well as GNSS mapping capability. With GNSS mapping capability on the chartplotter as well as lake and depth charts, the i-Pilot Link system has the capability to perform advanced features such as following a depth contour as described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,645,012. The system is not capable of an instant network connection for sharing waypoints or routes. The system also lacks the ability to share other information pertinent to the route or waypoint such as pictures or notes. The system is a complex, multi-piece solution limited to other Johnson Outdoor brand (Minn Kota, Humminbird, and Lakemaster) products. For example, along with the Minn Kota trolling motor, the i-Pilot Link system requires the Link remote, a Humminbird fishfinder/chartplotter to utilize the mapping features and increased storage, and Lakemaster digital maps to allow the follow a depth contour function. Purchase of each required component is cost-prohibitive for the average boat owner.
At present some progress has been made towards integrating networked mobile devices with certain electronic systems found on many fishing and pleasure boats such as chartplotters and fishfinders. U.S. Pat. No. 8,433,463 discloses an application in which a handheld device such as a smartphone or tablet can be used as a secondary controller or peripheral display device for a chartplotter of fishfinder system. However, the mobile device is not capable of making any change to the speed, heading or position of the boat.
The advancements in electric trolling motor capabilities have outpaced the advancements in control system technologies. What is needed is a single handheld, networked device to be used to control the speed or heading of any propulsion system on a vessel such as a boat to affect the position, speed, and heading of the vessel. Prior inventions have failed to offer a single handheld device that provides visual input and feedback capabilities that enable a complex suite of navigational capabilities in a single input device. Prior discoveries have also failed to address shortcomings in navigational data storage, access, and sharing.
It would be most desirable for a fisherman or other boat users to create a route or preselect a waypoint from a map on a familiar device, such as a smart-phone where mapping and mapping display ability is already included as a commercially available function or feature. It would also be most desirable for a fisherman to have increased or relatively “unlimited” storage capability for routes, waypoints, maps, pictures, weather conditions, water conditions or any information regarding or related to their route, waypoints or time on the water. It would be most desirable for fishermen to quickly and easily share this information with other users of the same systems through online networks and social networking. It would be most desirable for a user to utilize their existing smartphone or networked mobile device as both their remote control and input device for routes and waypoints for control of their trolling motor. The invention described below will accomplish these items.